


you're something out of a dream

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Frosen Steel Week (RWBY), Minor Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Multi, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: Frosen Steel Week day 1: Fantasy AU (late oops)Weiss should know better.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Lie Ren & Ruby Rose & Nora Valkyrie, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Qrow Branwen & Ruby Rose, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	you're something out of a dream

**Author's Note:**

> A very happy birthday to Ruby Rose.
> 
> This is pre-ship, but I did my best to establish Weiss's feelings and that Ruby maybe likes her back. I ended up getting too invested in making the universe. Whoops. I started on day 1 and am only finishing this now, so you can tell that I'm not doing great.
> 
> Title from Celeste by Ezra Vine.

Weiss should know better than to go out on a night like this, where magic permeates the air, the thrum of energy surging through. She knows every magical being can probably feel the energy of the night, the Winter Solstice.

And that was why she was using it to get out.

To get away from her father, and go back to her  _ real  _ family. She didn’t know where they were, but...but she needed to find them. Ruby, Blake, Yang...they’re her real family. More than the other Schnees, as much she wanted to be able to reclaim her name. Winter…

Well, Winter was on her own, too; she had gotten out. Weiss could do it. She just had to escape, undetected. And she would do that, with the help of some of her summons. It was their family’s specialty as witches.

The armored soldier stood in her hand with only a moment’s thought.

She was ready.

Though she made arrangements, there was no one there to pick her up when she managed to get out of the mansion. It’s colder than she thought it would be, and she mutters a heat spell to herself to keep warm.

And then she picks up the pace to exit the property, using her summon to help her get over the fence surrounding the property.

Weiss took a deep breath, and leaped off the edge of Atlas.

She took out her glider, but she was having trouble fumbling both it and her suitcase. She was falling, falling, falling—

Deep breaths.

She prepared a spell, but before she could cast it, someone swooped her up.

They landed on one of the Mantle roofs.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked, once Weiss was set down.

“I’m...fine. Thank you?”

The other girl smiled, and Weiss could tell that she wasn’t  _ human.  _ “You’re welcome! My name is Penny.”

_ Oh!  _ “You’re the...automaton.” The one that can perform magic, she heard about. “I’m Weiss.”

“You’re the daughter of the CEO of the technology company, yes? Would you like me to help you get back up there?”

“No. I’m trying to get away from them, actually.”

“That is perfectly fair! I am not fond of them either. Where would you like to go?”

“I’m trying to find some of my past friends. We met when I went on a trip with my sister to Vale and I went to the faerie realm for the first time. Two of them were fae, one is a Faunus who was also just visiting.”

“I have never gotten the opportunity to go there before,” Penny remarked. “I would like to come. Would you take me with you?”

“We can’t just…”

“What do you mean?”

“If you want to go to the realm, you need to  _ prepare.  _ Time is weird there. Do you have any way to protect yourself?”

“I am built with protections against faeries! Though most of my skeleton is built of wood, there are parts made from steel on my insides.”

Weiss dug around in her suitcase, finding the medallion Winter gave her to explore. “I have what I need.” She slipped the necklace over her head. “Let’s go.”

She took Penny’s hand. “Take us between the spaces, between where the mortal plane lies and where the dead roam. Take us where the seasons meet and beings roam. Let us lie between the realms. Let us go there in peace.” It never felt good to go to faerie, the sensation of  _ dissolving  _ out of the space where one belonged.

The Faerie realm was between the world of Remnant, and the upper plane where the spirits of the dead were. Some people could draw the dead back to the mortal plane, but it was difficult to pull them in. 

When she opened her eyes, secure in the knowledge that her feet were on solid ground, she saw Penny. “It...feels strange to be here.”

Weiss hoped that wasn’t because of the parts of Penny that were made of steel.

“The journey always feels strange. I wouldn’t pay it any mind.”

“What happened here?”

Something...a catastrophe, a blight must have taken over the land. “I don’t know. It’s been...too long since I was last here.”

And then a monster snarled at her. “Guardians of the North, lend me the cold and the wind and the strength of the Arctic.” A spike of ice impaled the monster. When it died, it dissolved into ashes. 

“It wasn’t always like this, was it?”

She recognized the monsters. They were a plague of the mortal realm, the Grimm. How did they get into the faerie realm?

“Penny, I need you to—”

“I am combat ready!” Penny said, withdrawing a sword.

“Where did you get that from?” Weiss demanded.

“I...when I need it, it comes to me.”

Okay. Weiss could get them both out of this.

As they walked, looking for signs of life, they heard sounds of chopping and compressed air.

Weiss perked up at the noise. She knew Ruby used compressed air in her weapon, to add momentum to her speed and petals. There were others that used a similar technique, but she had to hope it was Ruby.

“Weiss?” Ruby said, looking over as they entered the clearing.

“Yeah. It’s me. What happened here?” Ruby chopped the last Grimm in half, and she ran up to Weiss to hug her tightly.

“King Ozpin is dead. It’s been chaos ever since then, the courts have fallen apart…”

“Okay.” The courts falling apart is no good for stability, but there’s an opportunity for change here. Weiss was just a human, but she still knew, and maybe she would stick around. The medallion around her neck signified all of the ties between her and the human world.

“Who was he?” Penny asked, and Weiss almost managed to forget that Penny didn’t know about the happenings of the courts.

“There are two courts. Seelie and Unseelie. King Ozpin had united them, but then there was a bitter Unseelie left behind that got recruited by the witch in your world that makes the Grimm,” Ruby explained quickly. “I’m technically a Seelie, with both of my parents, and so is Yang, who’s my half sister. There’s also a solitary tribe composed of people that would otherwise be either court, led by my...stepmother, I suppose? Politics are complicated and I don’t — nor do I want to — know everything.”

Weiss took a deep breath to focus. “Speaking of Yang, where is she? And is Blake still here?”

“Blake ran away after he did. Yang is...still recovering. I’m with Jaune and Nora and Ren right now.”

“What about Pyrrha?” she demanded. A part of her didn’t know if she wanted to know. If Ruby was with those three where Pyrrha normally was, then something probably happened to Pyrrha.

“She...went into a battle that couldn’t be won,” Ruby said, looking away.

“My greatest condolences,” Penny offered to both of them. “I did not know this Pyrrha, but just from this conversation I can tell that both of you held her in very high esteem.”

“She deserved to be,” Weiss said. “I didn’t know her for very long, but she still deserves to be remembered.”

“And we will.” Ruby collapsed her scythe back into carrying form. “I’ll take you back to our camp.”

* * *

Ruby was Weiss’s best friend. Even with the separation for a while, she managed to come back. And she never had anyone else around her age to befriend. Even with Ruby simultaneously two years younger and twenty years older, they were still close enough. Yang and Blake had always been closer to each other than to her, and so she stuck with Ruby.

“We’re here. Everyone, this is Weiss and…”

“Penny!” she declared.

Weiss just waved. Oh. She recognized one of the faeries here, the one that picked a fight with her sister.

“You fought my sister,” she challenged the older man.

“And she lost.”

“It was a  _ tie,”  _ Weiss defended.

“A tie, huh?” He smirked. “I’m Qrow.”

Weiss did her best to relax. She knew that it wasn’t worth picking a fight, so she wouldn’t.

Hopefully Jaune wouldn’t be too awkward around her either. Weiss was never interested in him, he was just...well, male, for one, and for two Pyrrha’s.

Humans didn’t have the same grasp of ownership as the fae did, but Weiss still understood it. Ownership — what was hers, and what was theirs. And she had to claim  _ herself  _ first.

“Who are you?” Nora asked Penny.

“Weiss and I met up when she was falling!”

“I could have caught myself, but Penny got to me before I could. I was running away from my family after a series of things just kept building up. I couldn’t stay there any longer.”

“That’s very admirable,” Ren commented. “I’m glad you came back. Having more people with us will be good if we want to get the world back to normal.”

“I just realized...we’re all here, and I didn’t know about this. I hadn’t heard about the fall of the courts.” Weiss was slowly realizing that it was…not a good thing that she had to  _ wonder  _ what happened.

“Why should mortals be meddling in our affairs?” Weiss glared at Ren.

“Because it matters if the witch is going after us next,” Weiss said, “we need to prepare for it. Humanity matters too. Or did you forget me? Did you forget Blake, who’s a halfling?”

“That’s important. We can hold off on reparations until later…” Qrow declared. “We need to convince them.”

“I’m not going back to Atlas. Not anytime soon.”

“We won’t make you,” Ruby said. “There are other kingdoms, yeah?”

“There are, but General Ironwood is the only one with a real army. The others just have independent witches.” Penny said the words in a very matter-of-fact way. It was strangely endearing. “They’re all very capable! But it isn’t the same level of defense as an army.”

Weiss thought that maybe the system was better with the independent witches, as opposed to the army. Then again, she wasn’t like Penny. Penny was a part of the machine, too; she stood to lose more after the dust settled than Weiss. 

“Well then, maybe we can split up?” Ruby offered.

_ “No,”  _ Jaune said. “Last time there was a split, well…”

Blake ran away. Pyrrha died. Yang is recovering from something that Weiss isn't aware of. She understands.

“It won’t take as long to warn Mistral. We can’t get the entire world at once,” Nora said. The ley line system was fragile, centered in the faerie world, and that was...broken, she presumed.

“Sure. I’ll go tell Dad and Yang,” Ruby declared. “Okay, final plan: going into the human world to Haven, and warning them about the fall of the faerie world and how the human world will be next.”

“Sounds like fun!” Penny exclaimed. 

“Can I come with you, Ruby?” Weiss asked.

“Sure,” she answered. “We can get going now.”

“What will the rest of us do?” Jaune asked.

“Start going. We’ll meet you there.” Weiss really admired Ruby and her abilities sometimes the way that she could take command of a room easily. She just  _ pulled  _ people in, and Weiss was caught in that charisma.

...maybe there was something more to it.

The two set off.

“It’s been...too long,” Ruby said. “A lot has changed. Yang...she lost an arm.”

“Wait, that’s what she’s still recovering from?”

“It’s why Blake ran. There’s something connecting it, I don’t know exactly what. It’s between them.”

“Let me guess: Yang lost it defending Blake and Blake has a complex where she doesn’t want others to give themselves up for her, so she ran off.”

“That...sounds pretty accurate to the two of them.” Ruby laughed, but not in a positive way.

“I missed you,” Weiss said. “Every day. I missed everyone here, even though I didn’t get a lot of time.”

Ruby didn’t say anything, so they just continued to walk on in silence.

* * *

They clung to each other in the colder night, Weiss wishing that Ruby would talk to her. The walk went by faster than Weiss would have expected.

“What happened, back in Atlas?”

“I summoned a boar that almost attacked this rich lady.” Weiss smirked. “I had a charity concert that night and she was minimizing the cause the profits would be donated to.”

“And where did Penny come from?”

“She’s...a first in a few ways.” Ruby looked away when Weiss said that. “Well, in our world. She’s different, and I don’t exactly want to tell her secret. You’re the first friend I’ve had Ruby, that isn’t going to change.”

Well, not unless they get into a relationship, but there’s a few complications, namely the dueling halves of her heart.

Why is it that Weiss always falls for others too easily?

Ruby perked up when she said that.

Friends. Weiss could do that.

“This is my house,” Ruby announced when they came up to the door of a small homely cabin. It looked like a place that would be easy to call home, not like the mansion that towered over everyone, constantly not warm enough.

“Okay,” Weiss said. “Let’s knock.” Ruby was the one who ended up knocking.

A man opened the door — Ruby’s father. He looked a lot like Yang, she could see the easy resemblance — and the resemblance between him and Ruby could be seen but was a little harder.

“Ruby? And um…”

“Weiss. I’m human, I just visited a couple years ago.”

“Oh. Are you here to see Yang?”

“We are.” But Ruby stepped up to quickly hug her father.

“What’s going on?” Weiss could just barely see over Mr. Xiao Long’s shoulder. “Ruby? Weiss? Is Blake with you?”

“No, we haven’t seen Blake,” Weiss answered. “How are you doing, Yang?”

“I’m…”

So, not good, Weiss took it.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Weiss hastily said. “I know it’s been a while, but…I don’t need to know every detail.”

“Ruby? I thought you left, what’s going on?”

“We’re going to leave the Realm. We’re going to warn the humans about what happened.”

“Don’t you realize that General Ironwood probably already knows? He and King Ozpin were...confidants, of a sort,” Yang pointed out.

“And if he knows, and he isn’t doing anything about it...what’s going to happen?” Ruby seemed genuinely scared - it wasn’t  _ often  _ that Ruby talked through her fears, but when it did it was normally important.

“I think he knew that I escaped. But he didn’t...say anything,” Weiss said. “Oh no. Penny.”

“Who’s Penny? What’s wrong?”

“I’m worried that something about her could cause trouble. I hope not, of course, but it’s a possibility.”

“Penny came with Weiss here. She’s different. In a good way! None of us know her that well, but she seems nice so far.”

“Are you going to come with us?” Ruby asked. “We thought we might be able to find Blake. We know she went to the human world, too. I know you cared about her a lot.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready,” Yang said.

“You should go, Yang,” the two sisters’ father said.

Weiss was taken aback. 

“I...if I will, it won’t be now. There are other things I need to know. Other things I need to do first.” Yang looked determined. Whatever her task was, it was clearly important to her. “I can travel there, too. I’ll see you there.”

“Okay.” Ruby hugged Yang. “We all miss you. And you can come meet us at Haven.”

“Okay.”

* * *

When Ruby and Weiss reunited with the group, the others all looked confused. Except Qrow.

“Yang has some business to take care of,” Weiss said. “She might meet us there.”

“Business, indeed,” Qrow said. Ruby suddenly jolted; Weiss assumed that she knew what Yang’s business was.

Weiss didn’t need to know. It was Yang’s, not hers.

“And we also learned that General Ironwood might know more than he’s told anyone. Penny?”

“I had...no idea about any of this. Winter might, I am friends with her! I would be willing to go back to Atlas to talk to her and figure out what is going on.”

“I want to know too,” Jaune said. “But I think going to protect them and warning them is more important than whatever a human general may or may not be planning.”

“Okay,” Ruby said. “Let’s go. Weiss, do you want to bring us back in?”

Weiss nodded. “Everyone, get in a circle, we all need to be touching for this. Penny, can I borrow some of your energy? I haven’t had to transport this many people at once before.”

“Okay!”

Penny stood to Weiss’s right, and Ruby took Weiss’s left hand. They formed a circle.

Weiss closed her eyes. She focused on the energy surrounding her, and found Penny’s green magical signature. She mentally pictured her white entwining with Penny’s green, and channeled it into her words. “Take us back to the mortal plane, where we are grounded in time and space. Take us where life and death cycle upon each other, back to the plane where some belong and others do not come home. Take us there in safety and in peace.” She envisioned what she would imagine Mistral to look like, green forests and small villages, constructed in no way she ever studied.

And when she opened her eyes, they were in a forest.

“You did it!” Penny cheered, leaning onto Weiss. She smiled, euphoric. It was the greatest feat she had executed before.

Even though there was so much darkness, and probably much more to come, she was here. She had her friends — her family — and she had Ruby and Penny.

As long as she could have all of them at her side, she would never be isolated again. She wouldn’t have to be alone. And most importantly, she would be loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me elsewhere:
> 
> Tumblr (main): alto-tenure  
> Tumblr (writing): beunforgotten  
> I'm on Twitter @riverofliight but am not super active
> 
> Comments/kudos/feedback always welcome! And I might write more in this universe.


End file.
